Dayi d stapleton



D. STAPLETON.

Sheep Rack.

Patented Aug. 27, 1867.

#PQ A@ A N. PETERS, PHQTO-LITHOGRAFHEH. WASHINGTON. D c.

tetra strat @frn DAVID STPLETON, IOWA CITY, IOWA Letters Patent No. 68,320, dated August 2", '1867.

i IMPRGVEMENT IN SHEEP-RAGK.

Gite Stimuli Ainfant in in ilgcst eiiets nintt mit mating pnt ni the nini.

TO ALL WI-IOM IT MAY CN CERN:

Be itknown that I, DAVID STAPLETON, ef Iowa City, in the county of Johnson, and State ol Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sheep-Racks; and I do hereby declare `the following to be av full and correctdescription of the same, sufficient to enable others skilled in the art-to which my invention appertains to fully understand and construct the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this speeiication, and in which- Figure l is a front view, and

Figures 2 and 3 are sectional side views of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The nature of my invention consists in providing a sheep-rack of peculiar shape with a loose rack, in such a manner that this loose rack may serve to either close the sheep-rack, so as to .prevent the sheep from putting their heads into'the same, or as a protection against the waste of hay, and the falling of the hay-seeds and dirt into the wool of the sheep.

A A, in the drawings, represent the sides of the sheep-raek, which is'provided with abottom board, B, and a rear board, C. The side pieces A A are sloping downwards towards the rear, as shown at a. The vertical boards or pieces D are attached at the top and bottom to the cross-pieces E and F, at such distance from each other as to allow the head of the sheep to pass between them. Two cleats I) are attached to the inner side of. the cross-piece F, in such a manner as to form, with any t'wo of the vertical boards D, bearings for the rounded bottom -cross-pieces G, of the loose rack, to which and the top lcross-board H, of the loose rack, vertical piece I, is attached in such a manner that each piece I, when the loose rack is placed vertically in the bearings formed hy the cleats I), shall he between, equidistant from two of the vertical beards D. c c are pieces provided with vertical U-shaped slots, attached on the inside to -the sides A, and forming bearings for the ends of the cross-piece Gr, of the loose rack.` When the loose rack is in position to close the shcep-rack,` it is held in placeby a pin, d, passing through -the cross-board E, and behind the cross-piece It is well known that a great difficulty `in raising sheep is to prevent them from spoiling their wool by dirtying it, especially when feeding on hay, the seeds and other chai dropping on and settling inthe wool around the neck and shoulders. Sheep, in feeding hay from above their heads, are fond of pulling the hay out from the crib or rack in large quantities, which not only allows great quantities of seeds and dirt to fall into their wool, but also causes a great deal of the hay to be troddcn under their feet and wasted. By my invention these diiiculties are entirely obviated. l

. When the sheep are to be fed, .the hay is placed in sufficient quantity into the body of the rack, the sheep standing in front of it. 'Ihc pin d is then withdrawn and the loose rack allowed to fall on to the tray, as shown in fig. 2, the weight of which keeps the hay compact and prevents the sheep from tearing out more at a time than they can eat, and as they have the hay beneath them, the seeds and dirt cannot fall andsettle into their wool. When it is wished still more to prevent the waste of hay, theloose rack maybe placed into the slots of the pieces c, as shown in iig. 3, when any waste hay must necessarily fall into the space between the loose rack and the front board F, which latter can, if desired, extend to the ground, and thus by placing a number ofthe sheepracks contiguous to each other in aucircle, a cheap and strong sheep-pen and rack combined may be formed. B y'using my improved sheep-rack any boy who can reach high enough can feed the sheep, as no strength is required to withdraw the pin d and allow the loose rack to fall. The sheep may he fed and the hay distributed equally, from time to time, without the sheep interfering with the feeder.

'Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The loose rack G H I, and its bearings I) and c in a sheep-rack', substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The sheep-rack, constructed with the loose rack, the vertical pieces I of which fit between its vertical pieces or boards D, substantially in the manner and for the purposes described. u

The above speciiication of my improvement in sheep-racks signed this eleventhA day of June, 1867.

DAVID STAPLETON.

Witnesses:

ALEX. A. C. KLAUcKn,

D. OUnAND. 

